Poor response in Phuket forces cancellation of Andaman Sea Rally

Port Blair, Dec 16 (UNI) The much published Andaman Sea Rally from Phuket to Port Blair and back has been cancelled by the organizers due to poor response in Phuket from various participating countries.

After tsunami the Andaman Sea Rally was not organised in 2005 and 2006 and this year organizers were expecting more participation, but when they found that very less number of participants have registered themselves the rally was cancelled, Mohd Jadwet, the president of Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI), told UNI today.

The rally was scheduled to be held from January 14 to 24 and was to start from Phuket, with a race to Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, about 430 nautical miles away, Jadwet said.

Similar rallies was organized in 2003 and 2004 but after tsunami for two years the event could not be organized.

The rally offers a unique option in Phuket's burgeoning yachting calendar, with a change of emphasis from day racing to adventurous offshore cruising, Jadwet said.

In 2003, the rally was organized for the first time, in which altogether four yachts had participated and the next year it increased to 11. The organizers in Phuket were expecting at least 20 participants this year but for some reasons very less number of participants turned up for final registration, said Sulaiman Jadwet, the coordinator of Andaman Sea Rally in Andaman.

Sulaiman Jadwet said that lack of enough sponsors and niche marketing were perhaps the cause for the cancellation of the Rally.

" It seems that there were some other rallies in Phuket during the same period and most of the yacht-owners are participating in that," he added.

The rally, which was cancelled was open to both power and sail boats and was a social-cum-fun event with opportunity to visit and explore the untouched cruising grounds of the Andaman Islands.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a paradise rich in powder white beaches, pristine coral reef and lush, green rain forests where many yacht owners visits throughout the year.

" The main idea behind supporting this rally is to promote high value tourism in Andaman and Nicobar islands, as these yacht-owners are usually very high value tourists from all around the world," Mohd Jadwet the president of ACCI said.

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